Monday, February 25, 2013

meal plan monday

Wonderful weekend things I thought I'd share:

1. Kicked off the weekend early with a big snowstorm. My mom and my sister Mia stopped by on Friday afternoon after sledding on Art Hill, and then we all had some lunch together. Mia, of course, had me make her a grilled cheese. At least I didn't have to slice her banana up and spread peanut butter on each slice... She did inform me that Steph does that.

3. A big old puppy got to stay with me, as I mentioned on Friday! I'm dying for a little golden retriever puppy of my own even though I might be a little busy to potty-train one by myself right now... Someone convince Hannah to let me keep Pilot! Or maybe I could have one of these?? : )

4. Saturday was full of french dip sandwiches, Samoa cookie bars (recipe coming soon), and mass at St. Ambrose on the Hill. While my whole family was over for lunch, I only went to mass with my mom (my height--5 foot 2), Mia (she's shorter than I am, but she's only 10), and Nick, who happens to be 6 foot 5 and who also happens to be cruel: he told me after mass that he felt giant standing there with the bunch of us tiny girls. Except I think he used something phrase that was more offensive than "tiny." Fortunately, he didn't have to suffer standing with us short people very long because mass was over in 45 minutes; they don't mess around at that church. If you ask me, he didn't have to suffer through much of anything anyway because you really couldn't understand what was going on: the old Italian men who usher were sitting behind us and were saying the old version of mass and talking even more than I normally do (once, a stranger told me the social hall was next door to the church).

5. Saturday was also full of groceries my dad picked up from Sam's Club. With more than three dozen eggs in my fridge and six pounds of butter, you can expect plenty of baked goods and perhaps a good quiche recipe to be cropping up here in the near future.

6. Beautiful Sunday weather meant some time outside in the nearby park. Snow + nice weather = the best way to enjoy the snow!

This guy definitely wasn't enjoying the warmer weather as much as I was.

Monday: Brussels Sprouts, Apple, Cranberry, & Pecan Skillet
I just posted the recipe for this on Friday! It's soooo good, even if my pictures weren't. It makes an easy "meatless Monday" meal, too!

Tuesday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Crockpot Pulled Pork with Beer Cheese
I used this recipe from HowSweetEats. I have made this before, and I love how easy it is. This time around, I used a Boston pork butt that was a little over 2 pounds. For my BBQ sauce, I used the original Sweet Baby Ray's sauce. Now, this dish does make quite a bit (probably 5 to 6 servings of pulled pork), even with a 2 pound piece of meat, but it reheats well. In fact, I used most of the rest of the leftovers for Thursday night dinner (see below).

Wednesday: Copycat P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps
This recipe from Iowa Girl Eats is amazing: I'm already dying to make it again. I accidentally used a whole, heaping tablespoon of honey in it, but I think I'll keep it that way next time. I used regular ground chicken (not ground chicken breast) and fried it in a little canola oil, which I recommend doing. Also, as far as the "chili garlic sauce" goes, you should be able to buy this in the international section of your grocery store.

Thursday: Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
I used leftovers from the HowSweetEats grilled cheese and BBQ sandwiches a little differently than the original recipe: over sweet potatoes! To start, I scrubbed my sweet potatoes, dried them, and then pierced holes in them with a fork. Then, I preheated my oven to about 400 degrees F, put my sweet potatoes on a sheet of aluminium foil, and baked them for about 45 to 60 minutes, or until they were both soft in the very middle when pierced with a fork. I sliced them open, reheated some of the pulled pork and the cheese sauce, and loaded the sweet potatoes with the pork and then the cheese sauce. It was possibly better than the grilled cheese itself!